Recent Years Have Seen Candida Auris Cases, Transmission Increase

TUESDAY, March 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Candida auris cases and transmission have increased in the United States in recent years, especially 2021, according to a study published online March 21 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Meghan Lyman, M.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues describe recent changes in the U.S. epidemiology of C. auris occurring from 2019 to 2021, based on national surveillance data.

Through Dec. 31, 2021, there were 3,270 clinical cases and 7,413 screening cases of C. auris reported in the United States. The researchers found that each year, the percentage increase in cases grew, from an increase of 44 percent in 2019 to an increase of 95 percent in 2021. In 2021, colonization screening volume increased by more than 80 percent and screening cases increased by more than 200 percent. Seventeen states identified their first C. auris case during 2019 to 2021. In 2021, the number of C. auris cases that were resistant to echinocandins was about threefold higher than in each of the previous two years.

"The United States is not the only country to observe notable increases in recent years; other countries have reported additional cases since 2020 or reported their first cases or outbreaks," the authors write.

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